On a day when the seeded players mostly cruised through their matches, Russian standout Tatiana Prozorova stole the spotlight by defeating top-seed German Tatjana Maria, 7-6(2), 6-4, in an early Day 3 clash on Wednesday at the Felicisimo Ampon Tennis Center, Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate, Manila.
The day’s action began before noon in downtown Manila, with Colombia’s Camila Osorio defeating Japan’s Mai Hontama to open play on Center Court. However, it was the 22-year-old Russian who delivered the day’s biggest upset with a hard-fought 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over Maria.
Prozorova, who had dominated hometown favorite and UAAP Season 87 co-MVP Kaye Ann Emana just the day before, 6-1, 6-0, had to contend with Maria’s tricky slice shots throughout a two-hour-and-three-minute battle. She ultimately prevailed to advance to the quarterfinals, where she will face Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas.
“I’m very happy that I’m going to the quarterfinals now. The match was very tough; Maria’s slice shots were really tough. My very important goal was to focus on her slice and work with it, and I did it,” said world No. 174 Prozorova minutes after the upset.
Elsewhere in the draw, the seeded singles players advanced comfortably into the quarterfinals of the 2026 Philippine Women’s Open, with Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic leading the way.
Vekic, who endured hours of waiting the previous day, wasted no time on Wednesday despite the short turnaround, delivering a one-hour, one-minute 6-1, 6-2 masterclass over Mariia Tkacheva in her second match in as many days. The Croatian now moves on to face China’s Zhu Lin, who defeated Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-3, 7-6(5) in her Round of 16 match. Lin earlier stunned sixth-seed Kiwi Lulu Su.
Fifth-seed Camila Osorio recovered from a frustrating second set to defeat Japan’s Hontama, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, in a contest lasting two hours and 11 minutes, setting up a potential showdown with hometown ace Alex Eala.
“I would love to play [against] her, to be very honest. I know that she’s a very good competitor right now. And she has that very strong personality, I should say, on the court. She’s very competitive, she’s very passionate; she competes up to the very last point, which I like about her game. It is her mindset basically,” said Osorio.
“She’s gonna have all the support from the fans. She still has to play, but hopefully we get to play that match,” she added.
Eala, world No. 49, will take on another Japanese opponent, Sakatsume Himeno, later in the evening on Center Court.
Thailand still has representation in the quarterfinals after Lanlana Tararudee secured a thrilling 6-4, 6-4 victory over Uzbekistan’s Polina Kudermetova. She will face third-seed Solana Sierra of Argentina, who defeated Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-4, 6-3.
In doubles, the fourth-seed pairing of Nicole Fossa Huergo of Argentina and Darja Semenistaja of Latvia advanced to the semifinals following a come-from-behind 5-7, 6-1, 12-10 marathon win over Chinese Taipei’s Li Yu-Yun and Japan’s Sara Saito.
The Argentinian-Latvian duo will face either top-seeded Americans Quinn Gleason and Sabrina Santamaria, who received a quarterfinal bye, or Japan’s Kawata Hiroko and China’s Ye Qiu Yu, who defeated Filipinas and National University representatives Elsie Abarquez and Rovie Baulete 6-0, 6-2.
With Abarquez and Baulete’s exit, all other Filipinas, aside from Eala, have been eliminated from the historic first-ever WTA tournament held on home soil.
